INTERROGATING RFID TRANSPONDERS DURING ROTATION OF PALLETIZED ITEMS, SYSTEMS AND METHODS

摘要

The invention involves reading RFID transponders (306) affixed to items (308) by rotating the items as they are exposed to an RFID reader (304) as may be incorporated in a normal processing, manufacturing or shipping process such as wrapping items in a protective membrane (314) using a system that includes a commercially-available pallet wrapper adapted to be controlled by computer, and with an RFID transponder reading device mounted to the carriage (316) device of the pallet wrapper (302) . The computer interfaces with a programmable logic controller that controls the pallet wrapper and the RFID reader (304) . The computer causes a predetermined number of wraps of the shipping membrane to be wrapped around a portion of items and the pallet to secure the items to the pallet. The RFID tags (306) on the items on the pallet are read as the items rotate near the fixed RFID reader (304) that is mounted to a carriage (316) holding the shipping membrane (314) .